PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Volkov (ranked 1320 p4p, 2312 weight class) and Edgy Brah (ranked 145 p4p, 239 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Brah's choice of entrance music: Dropped by Smoke Serpent. Edgy Brah acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Volkov
vs
Brah

175 cm
30
154
11 - 10 - 0

173 cm
34
147
15 - 13 - 1

BJJ Red Belt
World class boxer
Granite chin

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 10 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ivan Volkov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Edgy Brah!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Sosuke Kotani and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Brah closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Volkov scores with a nice strike.

Volkov shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Brah's guard.
Volkov wants to pass the guard but Brah is keeping the position.
Brah wants to stand and escape but Volkov is having none of it.
Brah is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Brah keeping moving, preventing Volkov from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Volkov throws a big elbow that misses.
Brah utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Volkov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Volkov postures up in Brah's guard and throws a big left but Brah blocks it.
Volkov looking to sit in guard and control but Brah gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Volkov is working an open guard so Brah takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Volkov misses with a two punch combination.

Volkov shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Brah manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Volkov works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Volkov throwing shots but Brah is blocking nicely.
Volkov prevents Brah from standing back up.
Volkov seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Brah does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Brah pushes Volkov off looking to stand but Volkov dives back in and keeps control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkov is just content to waste time from the top position. Brah takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Volkov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Brah pushes Volkov off and gets back to his feet.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Brah ducks right into an uppercut from Volkov.
We've been told by Volkov's head coaches at St Petersburg MMA Gym that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.

Volkov closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Volkov lands in his opponent's guard.
Volkov with a nice head shot there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brah preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Volkov wants to control from the top but Brah keeps moving.
Brah wants to get back to his feet but Volkov is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Volkov throws a big elbow that misses.
Volkov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Volkov has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Brah has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Brah wants to stand but Volkov is controlling the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Volkov accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Brah wants to stand up but Volkov is controlling him.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Volkov looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Brah changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Brah shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Brah ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Brah slips a straight right by Volkov.
Brah tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Volkov throws a jab but it's blocked by Brah.
Brah on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.

Volkov moves into the clinch.
Volkov is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Brah throws a punch but it's blocked by Volkov.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ivan Volkov dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Brah avoids the body shot from Volkov.
Brah changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Volkov jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Brah with the counter takedown but Volkov avoids it easily.
Brah keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Volkov.
Volkov lands the left hand.
Volkov misses with a body shot.
Brah feints the counter takedown.
Volkov misses with a wild body shot.

Volkov shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Volkov was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Brah throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Volkov closes the distance and clinches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brah throws a head punch that misses.
Brah swings away with an uppercut that misses.

Volkov has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Brah is trying to keep an underhook but Volkov manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Volkov prevents Brah from standing back up.
Volkov is keen to just control but Brah is a slippery customer.

Volkov is working for an americana but Brah has been sneaky and has managed to get back to half guard, whilst Volkov was thinking about the submission.
Volkov wants to control from the top but Brah keeps moving.
Brah avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkov looking to sit in guard and control but Brah gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Volkov lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Volkov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Volkov throws an elbow that misses. Brah uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Volkov's guard. Nice move by Brah!

Brah postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Volkov has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Brah can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Brah has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Crapollas Gym. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.

Brah decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Volkov shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Brah manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

Brah manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Edgy Brah is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Volkov will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Volkov closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Brah did well to prevent Volkov getting side control.
Volkov thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Brah's head.
Volkov throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Volkov not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Volkov is looking to take a break and control but Brah is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Brah wants to get back to his feet.
Volkov misses with a head shot. Brah uses the momentum to regain guard.
Volkov advances position into side control!

Volkov tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Volkov has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Ivan Volkov will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Brah moves away from the strike by Volkov.
Brah changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.

Volkov shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Brah's guard.
Volkov looking to sit in guard and control but Brah gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Volkov working a defensive guard here.

Volkov is looking for a triangle here but Brah uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Volkov is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Volkov wants to control but Brah postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Volkov tries to bench press Brah off him but Brah keeps the position.

Brah decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Volkov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Brah can do to turn this around?

Volkov fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Brah to the ground. Volkov is now in Brah's guard.
Brah utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Volkov stops Brah from standing up.
Brah is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkov stops Brah from standing up.
Brah has Volkov pulled in close to control his posture.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Brah keeping moving, preventing Volkov from controlling successfully.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Volkov manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Brah on his heels. He'll look to pass Brah's guard now, I'm sure.
Volkov pushing down on Brah's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Brah regains full guard. Nicely done.
Ivan Volkov is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Volkov pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Brah is keeping the position for now.
Volkov trying to control the position from guard on top but Brah is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Volkov looking to pass the guard.
Volkov seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Volkov working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Brah keeping moving, preventing Volkov from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Volkov stays in close to Brah's body and controls the position.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Volkov has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Volkov throws a looping overhand right but Brah ducks down to avoid it.
Brah drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Volkov defends it well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Brah gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Volkov to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Volkov wants to control from the top but Brah keeps moving.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ivan Volkov showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Volkov has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:28
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ivan Volkov!
An out of breath Ivan Volkov thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.